A01=Roger Sandall
anthropological critique
Author_Roger Sandall
big
Big Ditch
Category=JBCC9
Category=JHMC
Civil Society
Common Language
critique of romanticizing tribal cultures
Culture Cult
Defensive Psychology
Designer Tribalism
ditch
Doreen Kartinyeri
Doubleentry Bookkeeping
Draw Back
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Galileo Circle
Good Life
Hindmarsh Island
Karl Polanyi
Kiri Te Kanawa
life
minority integration
modernity versus tradition
Mystical Wisdom
National Geographic
Natural Skincare
open
open society theory
Popper's Arrival
primitivism
primitivism debate
Ramin Jahanbegloo
romantic
Romantic Primitivism
sacred
Sacred Hate
social constructivism
society
tribal
Tribal World
Tristes Tropiques
Vice Versa
world
Young Man
Product details
- ISBN 9780813338637
- Weight: 453g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 08 Dec 2000
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Inc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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The Culture Cultis an acerbic critique of that longing widespread in society today to ?retreat from civilization.? From Rousseau and the Noble Savage to modern defenders of ethnicity such as Isaiah Berlin and Karl Polanyi, a prominent intellectual tradition has over-romanticized the virtues of tribal life. In contrast, another tradition, represented by Karl Popper, Michael Polanyi, and Ernest Gellner, defends modern values and civil society. The Culture Cult discusses both sides of this divide between "culture" and "civilization," and between "closed" and "open" societies. The romantic insistence on the superiority of the primitive is increasingly grounded in a fictionalized picture of the past-a picture often created with the aid of well-meaning but misguided anthropologists. Such idealizations work to the detriment of the very people they are meant to help, for they isolate minorities from such undeniable benefits of modern society as literacy and health care, and discourage them from participating in modern life. Few will find comfort in The Culture Cult, but many will recognize a valuable criticism of currently popular social politics.
Roger Sandall is a writer who recently retired as Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Sydney, Australia.
